Child of Darkness
by PhantomElphaba
Summary: Something happens to Bellatrix that changes her life forever. Set post DH, but things are different. Prologue explains everything. I guess, some BellaVoldie. Also, SiriusAndromeda, and possibly others later on. R & R Please. Rated for inferences of rape.
1. Prologue

**Hello! Long time, no see, eh?**

**I'm really excited about this story. I'm looking forward to this so much.**

**This prologue is really to help you guys understand what's going on. Basically, Destiny and I did this role play and we changed some stuff. This prologue explains all of the relevant informationg in story format. **

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Bellatrix Black couldn't believe how much her life had changed. When she had first started school at Hogwarts, she'd never dreamed that she would end up where she was today.

Only two years after leaving school, she had married Rodolphus Lestrange and the two had become Death Eaters, the followers of a rising Dark Wizard named Lord Voldemort. Bellatrix had felt an instataneous attraction to him. Perhaps it was his power, she wasn't sure. But as time went on, her feelings for him deepened, and she began to see that her marriage to Rodolphus had merely been one of convenience. Her true love was the Dark Lord.

After 14 years in Azkaban, her Master had helped her and the other imprisoned Death Eaters escape. Soon after, Rodolphus had been killed by a member of the Order of the Phoenix, and it was not long after this that Lord Voldemort admitted his true feelings to Bella. The two were married shortly after this.

After the Battle of Hogwarts, the two had somehow survived, though all that were present would have sworn they'd died. In deed, many who had seemed to have died were still alive: Remus and Nymphadora Lupin, Fred Weasley, and a few Death Eaters as well. After reorganizing, the Death Eaters attacked the new headquarters for the Order: the home of Andromeda Tonks, know by her husband, her cousin, Sirius, and her closest friends, as Mea. The attack failed; the Death Eaters had to flee, and they lost Greyback and a few others. A few hours later, Bellatrix returned. Mea, angry at her sister for all that she'd done to her (killing her husband, Ted, and nearly killing her daughter, Nymphadora), killed Bellatrix.

After Bellatrix died, Sirius returned from behind the Veil. During the Battle at the Department of Mysteries, she had merely stunned him. Because the spell dies with its caster, Sirius was now free and he returned to Mea.

Dumbledore, however, knew that Bellatrix's time was not up and gave her life again. This changed Bellatrix's heart and she joined the sister that she had disowned years before.

Bellatrix loved her life now. She was with people who loved her. Her sister was happily in love with Sirius, despite the fact that they were cousins, and the two were engaged. Even Harry had come to love her like an aunt. Life had never been better, and Bellatrix had never been happier. But she had no idea that her life was about to be thrown for a loop.

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**So, yeah, that's the prologue. I've got the first two chapters finished and part of the third. The first chapter should be up soon.**


	2. Chapter 1

**Hello...sorry I got delayed in updating. I got busy cleaning my room and my internet got taken away for a while. Plus, I was waiting on Destiny to review and tell me that I got the details right, and she never did. Oh, well...I still love you, Dest. **

**Ok, so this chapter was actually hard to write. I've gotten rather attached to Bellatrix. Yes, I know she's "evil" in canon, but keep in mind this is all based off a role play. She's good in this.**

**Disclaimer: (sigh) no, I don't own Harry Potter...JK Rowling does. Also, there's an inference of rape in this chapter.**

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Bellatrix gasped, clutching her left wrist to her chest as a searing, burning pain shot through it. He was calling her- her Lord and Master was summoning her to His side.  
"No..." she hissed through her teeth, tears springing to her eyes as she desperately tried to fight the pain. Her inner voices bickered inside her head as the pain intensified. 

_'Go to Him...'  
__'No...'  
__'You must. It's your duty.'  
__'No! I'm good now...'  
__'You're nothing without Him...'  
__'I've changed...'  
__'Nothing...'_

She couldn't stand it anymore. As tears slowly trickled down her cheeks, she turned on her heel and vanished silently from her room. As she whirled through the vast nothingness, she allowed her Mark to guide her to Him as it had in the past, giving herself time to gather her thoughts.  
With the faintest _thump_, her feet landed softly on the plush carpet. Before she had a chance to take in her surroundings, a cold, high voice came from a silhouette in front of the fireplace. It was a silhouette she knew all too well.  
"Bellatrix," the voice hissed, and Bella instinctively dropped to one knee, her upper body bending so low that her hair pooled slightly on the floor. "The Dark Lord is most displeased." She heard His footsteps bringing Him closer to where she knelt on the floor, but she didn't dare to look up at Him. "You have been gone for over a month, and when I summoned you to me tonight, you did not immediately respond." He paused, then continued, "One might think that you were..." She felt his hand in her hair and had to stifle a cry of pain when he yanked her head up by it. "...defecting...from your Master." They stared into each other's eyes as Bella's mind furiously fought against the invasion of His. "I see…" he sneered, forcefully pushing her head back down. She focused intently on the carpet beneath her, studying it to distract herself from the throbbing around her head.  
"You know that the Dark Lord punishes those who are disloyal to Him. I killed Igor Karkaroff and Regulus Black, as you very well know." At the mention of her young, dead cousin, Bella winced, letting her guard down for the briefest of instances. But that was more than enough time for the Dark Lord to penetrate her mind. "So…" He said quietly, frightening her more with the softness of His voice than if He had yelled at her. "I am correct, then? You have turned away from me?" Bella did not answer, and Lord Voldemort continued, "It is bad enough when my followers turn away from me, but when my own wife is disloyal…" He was once again in front of her, and she felt His cold, thin fingers grab her left wrist and lift her arm up. "You've removed your ring, I see." He dropped her hand and grabbed her upper arm, pulling her forcefully to her feet.  
Before she could protest, she felt an invisible force squeeze her chest, and for a brief moment, she couldn't breathe. Her feet landed once again on plush carpet and for a brief second, she looked around, immediately recognizing His bedroom. He said nothing, throwing her onto His bed and pointing His wand at her. For one split second, she was terrified that He would do to her what she had done to the Longbottoms years before. Thick ropes shot from the tip of His wand, binding her wrists and ankles to the bed. Her eyes widened as she watched Him, realizing what He intended to do.

What seemed to Bella an eternity later, she lay naked on the bed, her frail body curled into the fetal position and wracked by violent sobs. She had no idea how, but she somehow managed to pull herself together, and push herself to her feet. He had had His way with her and left her there alone. She found her ripped dress on the floor and pulled it around herself, achieving at least enough modesty to Apperate back home. She landed quietly in her bedroom, a small voice in the back of her head noting with amazement that she hadn't splinched herself. She wanted to collapse to her knees and cry her heart out, but the chances of Andy coming in were too great; the last thing Bella wanted was to be the one to kick her sister's mothering instincts into high gear. So, she wearily made her way to the bathroom attached to her bedroom and turned on the faucet, filling the tub with hot, steaming water. She let the remains of her dress fall to the floor and slid into the bath, every tense muscle in her body relaxing almost instantly.

She lay in the tub until the water turned cold, and then, carefully, got out, dried herself off, and changed into a silken, black nightgown and slipping into her thick, black bathrobe, tying the belt firmly about her waist. She crawled into bed, curling under the covers and let her tears flow freely once again. Hours later, it seemed, she had managed to cry herself to sleep, though nightmares about what had happened to her woke her continuously throughout what became the longest night Bellatrix Black had ever experienced.

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The next day, Mea padded quietly up the stairs. It was nearly four in the afternoon, and she hadn't seen Bella all day. Bella was definitely not one to sleep in- that was one thing the two sisters had in common- and Mea was worried. She paused outside the door to her bedroom and gently knocked. When she recieved no response, she let herself in, but was immediately siezed with panic when she didn't see her sister. She stood looking around the room, wondering what had happened, when she saw something shining in her peripheral vision. She turned her head and saw a silver bird land on the dresser. A Patronus. Mea inspected the bird closer and realized it was a raven. How she knew, she didn't know, but her mind was more preoccupied with a more important question:  
_'Whose Patronus is this?'  
_She wracked her brain, thinking of everyone she knew and their Patronuses, but none of them had a raven. Suddenly the bird opened its beak and spoke in a voice that was all too familiar to Mea.  
"Andy...I'm okay. I just...needed to get some air. I'll be home in a little while." After delivering its message, the bird vanished in a whisp of silvery mist, leaving Mea alone once again.  
"Bella..." she whispered softly, feeling her "mother instincts" as everyone called them prepare for action. Despite everything that had gone on between them, Mea had always been close to Bella, and she wanted to protect her, just as much as she wanted to protect all of her loved ones. Bella's message replayed over and over in her head, her older sister's voice sounding almost...heartbroken. She bit her lip, then sat down on the bed, deciding to wait for Bella to return. 

She did not have to wait very long. With the faintest _crack_ Bella appeared in her bedroom, not 5 feet from the bed where Mea sat. Her back was to the bed, so she didn't see her sitting there.  
"I thought your patronus was a snake," she said. Bellatrix gasped in fright and wheeled around, terror all over her face. It took her a moment to realize that it was only her sister. Her face relaxed and she put a hand over heart in an attempt to ease its pounding. "Bella?" Mea asked, very concerned; Bella was definitely not the skittish type.  
"Nothing...you just...startled me, that's all." Mea gave her a doubtful look, but Bella turned and walked out. Mea stared after her sister for a moment before she heard a crash from downstairs. _'5 galleons says it's the twins,_' she thought, as she rolled her eyes and hurried out the door to assess the damage.

* * *

A scream shattered the mid-morning quiet, jolting Mea from her thoughts.  
"What the...?" She leapt out of bed and raced toward the sound. "Bella?!" she nearly yelled, flinging her sister's bedroom door open. Bella was sitting on her bed with her face buried in hands, her wand on the floor a foot or two away from her. "Bella?" Mea hurried to the bed, and sat down beside her, wrapping her arms around her and pulling her close. Bella immediately buried her face in Mea's chest and sobbed, her body quivering. Mea's heart broke for her sister as she held her tight, running her fingers through her hair and making shushing noises in her ear.  
After several minutes, Bella calmed down considerably, and Mea pulled away from her slightly and looked into her eyes. "Bella, what's wrong?"  
"Andromeda, I'm...please...I'm so sorry...forgive me..." she whimpered.  
"Shh..." Mea whispered, gently wiping the tears from Bella's cheeks.  
"I...I..."she stuttered, as if afraid to say what was on her mind. Finally, she said, in a hushed whisper, "I'm pregnant."  
Mea looked at her sister in shock for a moment before pulling herself together and asking quietly, "How?" Bella took in a shuddering breath.  
"Remember last month when I had gone out for some air?" Mea nodded silently as Bella continued. "Well...the night before..._He_ had called me, and...I tried to resist, but...but the pain...oh, God, Dromeda, it hurt so much," she whispered, pulling back her left sleeve, revealing the Dark Mark burned into her wrist. "He...He was angry that I'd been gone for so long...and that I hadn't immediately responded to His call. He...punished me..." Tears began flowing down her cheeks again and she couldn't continue. Mea cupped her cheek in her palm.  
"Bella," she whispered, and Bella looked at her. "Bella, please...what did he do?"  
"He...he r-r-raped...me..." The words were spoken in the softest of whispers, but Mea heard them as though they'd been yelled in her ear.  
"Oh, God..." Mea whispered. She stared blankly into space for a moment, then fainted in shock.  
"MEA!" Bella shrieked.

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**Okay, so I ended up combining two chapters into one. Both were kinda short, so I decided to add em together.**


	3. Chapter 2

**Yay, another chapter up fast! Haha...anyway...I'm really pleased with the good reviews. I'm glad people like it. If you know someone who might like the story, please let them know. I'd like more poeple to read.**

**Oh, while I was writing this fic, I realized that Rodolphus was supposed to be alive during the wedding scene...heheh...whoops. So he had one of those "I'm not dead!" moments (yes, just like in Monty Python and the Holy Grail). **

**Disclaimer: Once again, I don't own these characters.**

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_"What happened?!"_

_"I don't know...she just..."_

_"Oh, God...Mea!"_

A pair of strong hands lifting her up by the shoulders...gently shaking her.

"Sirius..." she groaned.

"Mea, come on, I'm here," she heard her fiance's voice say frantically. After struggling for a few seconds, she opened her eyes and saw the faces of Sirius and Bellatrix hovering over her. She put a hand to her forehead, but then remembered why she'd fainted and sat bolt upright. Sirius's arms tightened around her shoulders as he studied her carefully. "Mea, what happened?"

Mea opened her mouth, about to say something, but she glanced over Sirius's shoulder and saw Bella look at her pleadingly and gently shake her head. Mea subtly nodded to her sister and sat there.

Sirius looked back and forth at the two sisters, knowing something was going on.

"What is it? What happened?" He continued looking at them, when Bellatrix sighed and told him everything.

"Oh, God..." he whispered. His reaction was similar to Mea's. He looked up at Bella. "So...what are you gonna do?"

"I..I don't know."

"You two are such idiots!" Sirius and Bella looked at Mea. "She's keeping the baby! Dark Lord or not, could you let her kill something that innocent and that defenseless?" Mea gave Bellatrix a meaningful look "Right?" Sirius and Bella both knew that Mea was against abortion, but neither of them knew why. _"And now's not the time for them to know,"_ she thought to herself. _"Now we need to worry about Bella."_

Bella nodded. "I had actually been thinking about...keeping the child." Mea smiled and pulled her sister into a hug.

"I'm glad. This baby will have all the love it needs. I promise you that." They pulled apart and Bella smiled thankfully at her younger, though much wiser, sister.

But, in the back of her mind, a small voice nagged her with worry.

_"This child will be a demon. An abomination. It will ruin you."_

Bellatrix forced a laugh as Mea teased Sirius, the voice continuing to worry her.

* * *

Bellatrix shivered slightly as a gentle October breeze cooled her bare arms. She stretched her back as much as she could without drawing attention to herself. She might have been five months pregnant, but today was Mea and Sirius's day. She watched happily as her sister and cousin exchanged vows. After Sirius had said "I do," the officiator turned to Mea. 

"Do you, Andomreda, take Sirius to be your husband?"

Mea opened her mouth, but before the words "I do" could escape her lips, the sky had darkened faster than Bella could blink. Screams rose from the guests as a great rush of wind fell over the ceremony. Figures began to appear, and Bella gasped when she reconized them.

Voldemort and his Death Eaters.

The Dark Lord stared at her, and then stepped to the side. When Bella saw the man standing behind him, she gasped, and had to fight back a wave of sickness.

"Rodolphus..." she whispered. _"No...it's not possible"_ Behind her, Bella heard Mea gasp as well. "But...it's...no...I saw you..."

"Things aren't always as they appear, Bellatrix," her first husband said in a low, menacing voice. "Our marriage should have taught you that." He glanced at Mea for a moment, then returned his gaze to Bellatrix.

"The child you are carrying, Bellatrix, is mine," Voldemort said to her. "Come with us, and we will spare your loved ones."

Bellatrix froze. The tension crackled in the air with the silence, then...

"_Stupefy_!" several voices shouted at once. Spells flew through the air, and Bella found herself in the heat of it.

_"Protect the baby!"_ her instincts screamed at her, and she managed to make it to the edge of the fray. She looked around for Mea, and found her several yards away. She was face to face with...

"No!" she shouted, aiming her wand at Rodolphus and shouting "_Stupefy_!" But just as the spell left her mouth, her arm jerked, and Bella watched in horror as the jet of red light shot over Rodolphus's shoulder and collided with the center of Mea's chest. Mea's eyes widened in shock for a split second before she was blasted off of her feet and flew backwards, headfirst, into the wall of the tiny chapel the wedding was being held outside of. Bella screamed as she watched her younger sister's body drop lifelessly to the floor.

_"This has to end. I'm the only one who can stop it."_ Fighting back tears, she sought out the one man that she had never wanted to see again. She picked her way through the crowd to him, and, when they're eyes met, she nodded once. He grinned wickedly, grabbed her wrist and Disapparated. Before they left, Bella's eyes found Sirius standing near Andromeda. She managed to see him howl in rage and begin attacking every Death Eater he could see. Then, she was dragged away as tears streamed down her pale cheeks.

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**Well, that's that chapter up. And, yeah, there was something behind Rodolphus looking at Mea, and then the two of them having that confrontation. But I'm not saying anything. That's Desitny's job. She's working on fics about Mea's life based off the role play, and I'm doing Bella's. So bug her to get her stories up if you want to know.**

**Haha...love you, Dest.**

**Review, please!**


	4. Chapter 3

**Bonjour, mes amis! Lol...I'm taking French this semester, and I am loving it.**

**So, I got a few suggestions to rewrite this chapter, and I did. The only thing I will say is that I am skipping over a month or months at a time because, one, it would be _way_ too long of a story to go into details about everything, two, I'm trying to actually get to the birth and life of Bella's child, because that's who this story is really supposed to focus on. Speaking of the child, there should be a new baby soon...in the story. I'm excited.**

**Disclaimer: Don't own any characters you recognize, so, in theory, Dest and I own the three babies that will be born during the course of this story. Lol.**

**Dedicated to: Dest and Nick.**

_

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__"Bella!"_

_Bella looked around and saw her sister stretching an arm out for her._

_"Bella, come on...come with me. You'll be safe."_

_"Mea..." she whispered. But rather than take her hand, she aimed her wand at her sister's chest...directly over her heart. She felt her lips move, and even though no sound escaped her lips, the jet of green light said it all._

"MEA!!" Bella screamed and sat bolt upright in the small bed. Every night for the entire week that she'd been here, the same dream had haunted her. She killed her own sister...she just knew it. Mea had given her forgiveness and a second chance, and she'd killed her. She wiped her sweaty face with the blanket and let her gaze roam around the small, dark room.

Her prison.

She might have been carrying the Dark Lord's child, but He was not going to take any chance of her escaping. He'd taken her wand away. The only interaction she had on a day-to-day basis was Wormtail bringing her barely edible food.

For the first time in her life, Bellatrix Lestrange was completely alone.

The door opened, but she did not turn to see who it was, assuming it was Wormtail bringing her "breakfast".

"You deserve far worse." The cold, high voice made her blood freeze and the hair on her arms stand on end. "You should be thankful that I am being so merciful."

Her mind screamed at her to not look at him, but the muscles in her neck acted as if she was under the Imperius Curse. The scowl on his face made her tremble in fear. She saw his bone-white wand in his right hand, pointing at her. Held loosely at his side in his left, she immediately recognized the curved, charcoal black wand that Ollivander had given her at age eleven. He noticed her look of longing and held the wand up in front of his face, taunting her with it.

"You want this, don't you?" She nodded without thought. He smirked and flicked his wand. There was a flash, and Bella instinctively threw her hand up to shield her eyes. When she lowered her hand, a figure lay bound and gagged in the center of the floor. When it turned toward her, she immediately recognized Neville Longbottom.

Memories flashed before Bella's eyes as Neville's stared at her in a mixture of fear and unadulterated hatred. When she looked up at Voldemort again, her wand was floating a foot away from her face. When she pulled it from the air, all of the emotions she'd felt in her years of following the Dark Lord's every order came flooding back, overwhelming her mind. She glared down at the son of the aurors she'd tortured into insanity sixteen years ago. She pointed her wand at his chest, and the two words she hadn't spoken in ages came forth in a whisper...

_"Avada Kedavra!"_

* * *

For the next nearly two months, Bellatrix was pulled back into the Dark Arts. Her murder of the Longbottom boy had sent her spiraling back down the path that she had traveled years ago, just after she had finished school.

"Where is Rodolphus, my Lord?" she asked one night as she sat on the Dark Lord's bed. Bellatrix cared nothing for her first husband, she was merely curious, as she had not seen him since the wedding.

"Your cousin, Sirius Black, killed him just after you and I left the wedding. He killed a few others, but no matter...I am more concerned with you and our son at the present."

Bellatrix smiled. He was so sure that the child would be a son. A slight shiver raced up her spine as He placed a hand on her swollen stomach.

Merlin, she'd forgotten how good this felt. To be at her Master's right hand, basking in His praise and affection.

She had been foolish for leaving him. But she would not make that mistake again.

A few hours later, she lay in bed beside her Master's sleeping form, listening to his steady, even breathing, thinking about her life over the last two months. The guilt she had initially felt for killng her sister had evaporated, leaving the old feeling of cold emptiness that she had known all too well during her 14 years in Azkaban. She would have completely lost her insanity during her imprisonment, had it not been for the single glorious hope that somewhere, somehow, her Master- her love- was very much alive and well. She clung to that hope, like a raft in a storm-tossed sea, and the dementors were never able to take that from her, and so, unlike her many fellow prisoners, she kept her mind clear and was in perfect health when the Dark Lord freed her. Smiling to herself, she drifted to sleep.

* * *

Bella had always loved December. Even after joining the Death Eaters, she loved nothing more than walking through the park in a gentle snow drift, hearing the fresh, crisp snow crunch beneath her boots, watching the Christmas lights in silent satisfaction. She felt a slight jolt in her stomach and smiled, placing a hand over where her child had just kicked. Her back started aching and she lowered herself down on to the nearest bench, wrapping her thick cloak more tightly around her body. As she looked around, a lone figure caught her eye.

_Probably just some muggle out shopping_, she said to herself, but something about this woman seemed familiar: The way her small build hunched over to protect herself from the cold. How many times had she seen Mea huddle like that when they were young? Bella shook her head. Mea was dead. She knew it. Still...she gazed at the woman, gasping when she stepped into a beam of light.

_Mea..._

Bella stood, and the figure seemed to notice her.

"Bella..." she began, then stopped when she saw Bella aim her wand at her. Mea's eyes widened and she took off down a nearby street. As quickly as a witch seven months pregnant could, she stood up and took off after her as she turned down an alleyway.

_"Expelliarmus!"_ Bella shouted, catching her prey's wand as it flew through the air. With a gasp, Mea turned to face the sister she had not seen in almost two months.

"Bella...please...don't do this..." Bellatrix cackled and cut her off.

"Don't start with me, Andromeda..." She hesitated for a moment when she saw a tear trickle down her little sister's face, and a memory of their childhood flashed before her eyes...

_"Bella...?" She looked up to see her six-year-old sister standing in the doorway, tears streaming down her face._

_"Andy..." the eight-year-old whispered soothingly, pulling her little sister into her arms. "Andy, what happened?" In tears, Andromeda explained how she had broken their mother's vase while she was riding her toy broomstick._

_"Andy, Mummy told you not to play on that in the house..." She sat there, holding her sister as she cried._

Bellatrix shook her head, reminding herself of why she was here. She glared at Mea, and Mea gave her a pleading look.

"Bella...before you...kill me..." she said quietly and lifted her shirt up to reveal her stomach. Bella gasped when she saw her sister's slightly swollen belly, just barely bulging over the wasitband of her jeans. "Could you kill this baby? Something that innocent and that defenseless?" Mea pulled the words she'd used on Bella seven months earlier when counseling her to a decision about her own child.

Bella froze. She'd come here to kill Mea, but now...she couldn't. She had thought she'd killed her, but now, knowing that she was alive. And knowing that she was pregnant besides...The wand slipped from her hand, clattering to the ground as Mea wrapped her arms around her. Bella buried her face in Mea's shoulder and sobbed hysterically.

"Shh..." Mea whispered soothingly, patting her sister on the back. Now it was her turn to be the comforter.

After several minutes, Mea pulled away just slightly from her sister and tilted her chin up, gently wiping the tears from her cheeks. She smiled at her, and Bella gave a weak one in return.

"Come on..." Mea whispered, wrapping an arm around Bella's shoulder and holding her tightly. They turned together on the spot and vanished with a loud _crack_.

* * *

Remus sat on the kitchen counter, his head buried in his hands. Reality was far too overwhelming for his liking. No one had gotten over Mea's apparent death. Sirius had been most affected when he realized she was dead, and, in a rage, he'd attacked every Death Eater in sight. He had killed Rodolphus Lestrange and the Carrows, severely injuring others. When Mea had awoken, gasping for breath, his relief had been so enormous that all thoughts of everything but Mea fled from his mind.

Mea had recovered well enough and, much to everyone's surprise, had been one month pregnant at the wedding. Now that she was three months along, the pregnancy hormones were really starting to have an effect on everyone, especially considering that Dora was sixth months pregnant. Remus was happy to have another child, but a voice in the back of his mind nagged him, reminding him that Teddy had inheireted his Lycanthropy. There was no doubt in his mind that his child would be a werewolf as well.

He sighed, running his fingers through his greying hair, and looked up when the front door opened. He leapt lightly to the ground and turned, expecting to see Mea back from her shopping trip. But when Bellatrix walked through the door, he snatched his wand from the pocket and shot the first spell that came to mind.

_"Stupefy!"_

It happened so quickly. A split-second after the curse left his lips, it seemed as if Bella leapt out of the way. Remus was about to aim at her again, but froze when he saw Mea standing behind Bella and he watched while, as if in slow motion, the jet of red light collided with Mea's chest, exacly over her heart and she was lifted off her feet and blasted backward.

"What did you do?!" Bella screamed at him, moving to her sister's side quickly, despite her swollen belly. He joined her beside Mea, just in time for her to regain conciousness and glare murderously at him.

"Can you at least wait for an explanation before you start attacking people?" She snapped at him as she slowly got to her feet. There was a commotion and soon the small kitchen was filled with members of the Order, every wand pointed at Bellatrix.

Mea sighed exasperatedly. "Can you people please relax? If she wanted to kill me, she would have done it on the walk home." Everyone looked at each other, uncertain, but then quickly lowered their wands upon seeing Mea's glare. "Now, if you'll all sit at the table, I think we can explan why Bella's come back."

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**Questions? Comments? Gripes and/or complaints? Send 'em in via the little blue button that can be found right there...(points to the review button)**


	5. Chapter 4

**Ok, well...**

**Sorry for the confusion on the last chapter. The rewrite was better, I hope...yes? Lemme know when you review for this.**

**Sorry for taking so long in updating. I got really busy with school. But I should have more spare time, as we get out for summer in a week and a half. Yay!! (Does the happy dance)**

**So, um...yeah...don't own Harry Potter, and...special thanks to Dest for everything...the inspiration, being my best friend...all that jazz.**

* * *

_God, I'd forgotten what 5 months pregnant feels like_, Mea groaned, putting her hands at the small of her back. She knew she really shouldn't be complainng. After all, Dora was 8 months pregnant, and Bella was due any day now. Still, the pregnancy hormones got to her and made her unnaturally crabby.

"MEA!!" She jumped at Bella's shriek and took off as fast as a witch 5 months pregnant could down the hall to her sister's room. Bella was sitting on the bed, her groin and legs soaked. Mea swore, yelling for Sirius, who came tearing in to the room, alert for whatever danger was threatening his family. One glance at Bella's legs and he swore, too.

"Take her arm. We have to get her to the hospital," Mea told him, grabbing one of Bella's arms and draping it over her shoulder, and Sirius followed suit. Mea grabbed her wand from her pocket and quickly sent a Patronus message to everyone else before they Disapperated straight to St. Mungo's hospital. Bella was quickly admitted to a room, very likely thanks to the bitching of the two pregnant women.

Twelve hours later, Bella screamed as another contraction tore through her body.

"Push, Bella, push!" Mea shouted through gritted teeth. She could have sworn she felt the bones in her right hand crack under the pressure Bella was putting on her. She looked across the bed at Sirius and saw tears streaming down his face as his left hand was crushed as well.

"I see the baby's head!" the Healer shouted from the foot of the bed. "Keep pushing!"

"What the hell do you think I'm doing!" Bella screamed. Ten minutes later, her pain subsided as a small cry filled the air.

"It's a girl!" the Healer exclaimed as she wiped off the newborn, wrapped her in a blanket, and placed her in her mother's arms.

"Oh," Bella gasped softly as she looked at her baby daughter. Her soft, pale face gave her the appearance of a porcelain doll, and a jet black fuzz topped her head. Bella smiled and gently stroked her soft cheek. The baby's delicate eyelids fluttered open and Bella stifled a gasp of shock when a pair of luminous hazel eyes looked up at her. She saw, as if superimposed over her daughter's, another pair of hazel eyes that slowly turned to blood-red, resembling those of a snake.

Mea's hand brushing her sweaty hair off her forehead brought her back to reality.

"Bella," Mea whispered in her ear. "You're a mother." Bella nodded silently, smiling at her daughter.

"Yes," she said quietly. "Hello...Evelyn." She brought the baby up and gently placed a kiss on her forehead.

"Evelyn?" Mea asked.

"Yes...Evelyn Delany Black."

Mea consiered for a moment, then nodded as Bella placed one more kiss on Evelyn's forehead before allowing the Healer to take her. She watched the woman leave before her head fell back into the pillow and she fell asleep.

Mea collapsed, exhausted, into a chair by the bed. She felt a strong pair of hands gently grasp her shoulders, and she looked up into Sirius's caring grey eyes. She smiled up at him and placed a kiss on his left hand, which was now red from Bella's death grip on it.

"Do you want anything to eat?" he whispered, leaning down to her ear. She smiled, nodding thankfully at him. He kissed her lips for a moment before leaving to find some food. Mea watched him go with a smile, then turned her gaze to her sleeping sister. The last almost year flashed through her mind. Bella had been on one hell of ride during it. To think that, this time last year, she had been a vengeful Death Eater, and now she was the mother of a beautiful newborn girl...Bella was a strong woman, Mea knew, and she knew that it had to have taken every ounce of hat strength and then some to overcome everything that had been thrown at her.

A sudden jolt in her swollen stomach brought a smile to her lips. She laid a hand on her stomach to soothe the child that now seemed to be jumping for joy within her womb. Thinking about the months to come, she sighed. Mea knew from her experience with Dora that taking care of a newborn infant was no easy feat. But it was February and they were expecting to have three newborns to handle by June: Dora was due to deliver by late March or early April, and Mea herself was due by either the tail end of May or the very beginning of June. In addition to the newborn babies that would be arriving soon, Dora also had a two-year-old son who had inheireted not only his mother's ability as a Metamorphmagus, but his father's Lycanthropy as well. They were certain that Teddy's younger brother or sister would inheiret those things as well. Mea sighed, knowing that their whole family would be in for a wild ride over the next few years.

* * *

Three days later, the Healers had confirmed that Bella and her daughter were both in perfect health and they were allowed to go home.

"Thank Merlin," she said as Mea and Sirius each wrapped an arm around her. Bella held Evelyn tighter against her chest as the four of them Apparated to Mea's house. "Much longer in there, and I'd have gone crazy." Mea and Sirius chuckled.

"Bella," Sirius said with a playful smirk, "how can you go somewhere you're already at?"

Bella and Mea looked at Sirius with a puzzled expression.

"And you call me the idiot..."

Suddenly, it clicked.

"Why, you impudent little pup!" Bella snapped.

"Bella..." Mea said warningly, giving a meaningful look toward her infant niece, whom Bella was still holding against her chest.

"Alright..." Bella huffed, and glared at Sirius before gently laying her daughter in the small crib they had bought last month. Mea gave her an encouraging hug, helped her slide into bed, and then waddled off after her husband, who had sampered out of the room when Bella glared at him.

Bella propped herself up on her elbow for a moment to watch the small little lump in the crib. She smiled and quickly wiped a few tears of happiness from the corners of her eyes before settling back into bed, falling asleep immediately from sheer exhaustion.

* * *

**Whoot! Ok, I'm going to do my best to keep this going. I have an idea or two for an over all plot. But please be patient with it. I have exams the week after this coming week, and if I screw those up, I'm going to lose my spot at my school. Wish me luck!**

**Please review.**


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